Kids' frequent flyer accounts: age rules by program

Age lines, consent wording and editions for six programs

Three of the six, Delta, Virgin Atlantic and KrisFlyer, print a number in the enrollment wording. Southwest and Atmos say "minor" and never define the word. Aeroplan defines it by a different test: children "under the age of majority in their respective province, territory or jurisdiction of residence." The threshold therefore moves with the residence on the account, and Aeroplan says it is entitled to rely on the province, territory or jurisdiction it holds until the member updates it.

Three programs also tie an account to an email address that no other account uses. Virgin Atlantic's application rule says the address "can be used on one account only." KrisFlyer requires that the address not have been registered with Singapore Airlines before. Aeroplan tells a parent to enroll a minor with a unique valid address that the parent owns and maintains and that is not associated with another account. A household that has run every login through one family inbox meets that rule first. Delta, Southwest and Atmos print no such rule in the documents compared.

The editions matter because these documents change. Delta stamps its Membership Guide and Program Rules "Last Updated 1/1/2026." The Virgin Atlantic membership clauses cited here come from the edition effective 30 October 2024, and clauses 1.1 to 2.20 match word for word the earlier edition that still governs bookings made up to October 29, 2024. Aeroplan's terms took effect February 5, 2024 for existing members. Southwest, KrisFlyer and Atmos print no revision date, so November 3, 2026 is the only anchor for them. Treat every cell as a snapshot, and let the live document win.

Delta SkyMiles: a guardian box under 13, then silence

Delta's program rules carry one sentence about enrolling children. A Member who wants to enroll a child "younger than the age of 13" signs the child up online and must check a box confirming the Member is the child's parent or guardian, after entering the child's birthday. That sets two conditions: the child is younger than 13, and the person enrolling is already a Member who attests to the relationship. It says nothing about a teenager enrolling alone, about the parent keeping control, or about any change at 13 or 18. The only other wording in the document that touches children is the infant earn rule, the line saying award prices, terms and conditions for children and infants are the same as for adults, and a list item naming unaccompanied minor fees among the purchases that earn no miles.

One person, one account is stated flatly. "Only one person may be enrolled per SkyMiles account," and "Members may not maintain more than one SkyMiles account." If duplicates appear, Delta may cancel or merge them in its sole discretion and may move the balance to the surviving account "excluding any enrollment bonus"; credit toward Medallion Status and Million Miler status does not move. Membership numbers are nontransferable. A parent who enrolled a child twice by accident, or who wanted to fold a child's miles into the parent's number, is inside those clauses rather than outside them.

The password clause is where a family's habits meet the text. It says "Members cannot share their password with other individuals, including, but not limited to, for the purpose of sharing a SkyMiles account," and it forbids handing log-in credentials to third-party apps and mileage trackers. The under-13 sentence describes how a child is enrolled; it does not say whether the parent then signs in as the child, and it adds no exception to the password clause. A parent who manages a child's login is acting in a gap in the printed rules, and Delta keeps "the sole right to interpret and apply" them.

Mileage follows the traveler. "Mileage and MQDs are credited to the SkyMiles account of the traveler, regardless of who pays for the ticket," and credit requires that both the name and the date of birth on the reservation match the account. The name must match the government photo ID used when traveling, first, middle and last. For a child, that makes the birthday entered at enrollment a working field, not a formality: a wrong date breaks credit on every flight. Infants under age two traveling without paying an applicable fare, or paying an infant fare on an international ticket, earn nothing, while "Mileage will be credited to the accounts of infants traveling on a ticket purchased at the applicable fare."

On the spending side, "Miles may be redeemed for Award Tickets in the name of passengers other than the SkyMiles Member, but Award Tickets are nontransferable once issued," and "Name changes are not permitted once an Award Ticket has been issued." That is the rule a parent should expect to meet when a child's name is misspelled on an award. Delta also says some reservations may require the Member to appear at a ticket office with the payment card and ID, and that a redeeming Member who is not traveling can do so at an airport ticket counter. The passage speaks of the Member and does not address a Member who is a child. Child pricing on Delta awards is covered in lap infants and kids on award tickets.

Miles do not expire under the SkyMiles Mileage Expiration policy, but an account can be closed for listed reasons, among them a Member's request, a deceased Member and the creation of additional accounts. On closure, "Medallion Status, benefits, and/or miles in the SkyMiles account will be forfeited when an account is closed." For a child's account that has not been touched in years, that is the whole risk: the points do not age out, but a closure for any listed reason ends them.

Southwest Rapid Rewards: the parent confirms, and pooling is barred

Southwest handles minors inside a representation clause. By enrolling, a person confirms being the Member or, "if the Member is a minor," the child's parent or legal guardian, and a parent also confirms that "you, and not the child, are providing the child's information to Southwest." Two statements are packed in. The first is about relationship. The second is about who is disclosing the child's data, which is the parent. No age is printed for membership anywhere in the rules, so the only line between a minor and an adult is the word itself.

The membership clause is blunt: membership is "for individual travelers only," and "Individuals must enroll separately and may not pool or combine points with other Members." A Member is "limited to one account" and must supply a legal name matching government photo identification, an address, a phone number, a valid email address, a gender and a date of birth. Points do not expire, but "Should a Member close their account, the points in the account will be forfeited."

Southwest does allow points to move, at a price and within caps. Points can be purchased as a gift for an existing Member or a non-member; a non-member must enroll to claim them, and gifted points must be claimed within 12 months or they are forfeited. Points can also be transferred to another Member, paid for by credit card, in blocks of 1,000 during promotional periods and 500 off promotion, with a 2,000-point minimum and a 60,000-point daily maximum. Points cannot go to "a Member's estate or as part of a settlement, inheritance, or will." The Southwest points from bank transfers guide covers the bank side of Southwest. The minimum and block sizes matter for a child's small balance, and the arithmetic is worked below.

Redemption rules are written for the account holder. A Member can use points to buy seats "for themselves or others," and the Member alone is responsible for changes after booking: a passenger traveling on points from another Member's account "will not be allowed to make changes to the itinerary" and must go back to the Member. In a family, that puts every change on whoever owns the points: a teenager flying on a parent's points cannot rebook, and when a child's own account paid for a parent's seat, the child is, on the face of the text, the Member who must make the change.

Two smaller rules concern the youngest travelers and the money around them. On Getaways by Southwest vacation bookings, points are divided "as equally as possible among all persons on the vacation booking (excluding lap children)," and any portion not tied to a Rapid Rewards number is forfeited 12 months after the booking is complete and is not redistributed to the others. And Companion Pass qualification excludes purchased points and points transferred between Members, so points moved into an account by either route do not count toward it.

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club: consent under 18, a phone call under 12

Flying Club splits enrollment into age-specific routes. Members under 18 need consent from a parent or guardian. For a child under 12, applying and giving consent runs through the Virgin Atlantic Customer Centre by phone. For a child aged 12 to 17, an application can be made online or through the Customer Centre, and an online application requires a completed parental consent form sent to the Customer Centre. The clause closes with the rule that matters most: for anyone under 18, membership "will not be fully active" until Virgin has received and processed a parent's or guardian's consent. An account number can exist before the account works.

Every application needs the applicant's full name as it appears on the passport, a date of birth, an email address and a mailing address. The terms say the email address "can be used on one account only," and a member cannot state more than one preferred email or mailing address. A person may hold only one account at any time, and duplicates are combined into a single account, less duplicated bonuses and points. Membership cannot be transferred or assigned to any other individual, trust or estate, and corporations are not eligible.

Two clauses decide who can act for a child. An Authorised Account User can book and redeem Virgin Points from the Member's account "for themselves, the Member or a third party," without confirmation from the Member, and the Member is deemed to consent to all of it. The user must be at least 18, and "Only the Member can authorise the addition and removal of, or changes to any Authorised Account User on their account." Where instructions conflict, "the Member's wishes shall prevail." The terms do not explain how those sentences work for a member under 18, so a parent should ask the Customer Centre how an adult is attached to a child's account before relying on it.

Household accounts are the other route. Any Flying Club member can set one up and link up to nine other members who live at the same home address. The leader has to be 18 or older; the terms set no age floor for a linked member. Virgin Points that linked members earn through Virgin Atlantic or Flying Club partners transfer automatically to the leader's account after each transaction, provided the linked member's Flying Club number is attached to the partner or transaction; where a Virgin Red ID is attached instead, the points stay in the linked member's account. Each member keeps their own tier points, and rewards such as vouchers do not move. A member must remain linked for at least 12 months, each person can belong to only one household, and "Only the Household Leader is able to spend Virgin Points from the Household Account, unless the account has an Authorised User." Unlinking requires contacting the Customer Centre. A child linked on February 1, 2027 is therefore tied to the household until at least February 1, 2028.

Spending rules treat children as adults. The terms say "Points prices for children and young adults are charged at the same rate as full adult reward seats," while lap infants under two are charged fixed points by cabin and still owe passenger taxes. The fuller comparison sits in lap infants and kids on award tickets, and the Delta-operated seats Flying Club sells are covered in Virgin Atlantic points on Delta flights. Virgin Atlantic will issue a reward to a third party at the member's request, but "once issued, Rewards are not transferable," and only the Member or an Authorised Account User may authorise the deduction of points or the issue of rewards. After ticketing, no name changes are allowed.

Virgin Points are personal to a member. The terms allow movement between accounts in two cases only: a deceased member's points may go to a named beneficiary's Flying Club account at Virgin's discretion, on a death certificate and an executor's letter of indemnity, or the holder may pay the transfer fees and follow the Virgin Points Transfer Procedure.

One more clause is tied to age 18. Clause 1.3(b) says a member who is "over 18" and has a UK address (joined on or after February 8, 2021) or a US address (joined on or after November 30, 2021) also joins Virgin Red, and clause 2.3.1 says a Virgin Red account is created for a member with a UK or US address who is "18 years old or over." The two clauses word the age differently. Both describe a condition at enrollment. Neither says what happens to a member who joined as a child when that member turns 18.

KrisFlyer bookings: nominees and the under-12 online bar

KrisFlyer's membership clause starts with a floor and a consent rule: "KrisFlyer membership is open to individuals aged two or above. In respect of individuals aged between 2 to 16 years ("Minors"), parental or legal guardian consent is required to join KrisFlyer." Later, the miscellaneous terms add that every transaction by a member under 16 requires a parent's or guardian's consent, subject to local law where consent is required above 16, and that Singapore Airlines is not liable for verifying a signature or the authority to give consent. A child under 2 cannot hold an account, which matters for lap infants; lap infants and kids on award tickets covers what a seatless infant costs on an award.

Obligations pass to the adult. Where the applicant or member is a minor, "the parental/legal guardian will ensure that the KrisFlyer applicant/member fulfills these obligations." A member must keep the number, PIN and password confidential and must not disclose them to anyone, with one named exception: "other than, where applicable, the parental/legal guardian." That is an explicit permission, and Delta's password clause has no equivalent sentence. Like Virgin Atlantic, Singapore ties enrollment to an email address, which "must not have been registered with Singapore Airlines previously," and enforces one account per person: "Multiple memberships are not permitted," and enrolling several persons in a single joint account is not allowed.

Who the miles can book for is narrow. The online redemption clause says "Members can only make bookings for themselves or for their redemption nominees." A member may name up to five nominees at a time, and "A child or infant nominee is treated the same as an adult and must be at least 2 years of age at the date of travel." Adding a nominee costs nothing, but replacing or deleting nominees carries a flat fee and further changes are blocked for six months afterward. A change can take up to six weeks to take effect, and a flight within 72 hours of the date the nomination takes effect is subject to Singapore's case-by-case approval. A parent building a family's nominee list is therefore planning months ahead, and a baby cannot travel as a nominee until the second birthday.

Then comes the rule specific to young members. Members "under 12 years of age are not eligible to redeem their KrisFlyer miles online, unless a Redemption Nominee of 18 years old or above is travelling with him/her on the same flight," and members aged 12 to 17 who travel unaccompanied must bring a signed Unaccompanied Minors Assistance and Handling form, completed by a parent or legal guardian, to check-in. So an 11-year-old member's own miles can be spent online only when an adult nominee is on the same flight, and a 15-year-old flying alone must carry a form at check-in. The terms add that a child or infant nominee needs the same number of miles for award travel as an adult.

KrisFlyer for Families: a transfer window that shuts at 16

KrisFlyer's terms are the only one of the six sets of terms to give minors a transfer rule of their own. For accounts held by minors, miles "can be transferred to the linked parent/guardian's account provided that the requirements for account linking are met and the relevant service fees paid." Everywhere else the same terms hold the line: a KrisFlyer account "cannot be transferred to any other individual(s)," miles cannot move to another frequent flyer program, and "Save for KrisFlyer accounts held by Minors, transfer of KrisFlyer miles from one member's account to another member's account is also not permitted." The service fees are not printed in the terms.

The linking rules read like a checklist. A minor aged 2 to 16 can link only to a parent or guardian aged 16 or above. Once linked, a minor cannot link to anyone else, and each minor links to only one parent. Each parent can link up to five minors. Linked accounts are de-linked automatically if the minor's account is closed, expires, or "when the Minor turns 16 years old."

Then the transfer conditions. In the 36 months before a request, the minor must have accrued miles from flying on Singapore Airlines, Scoot or a partner airline at least once, and "must not have accrued any KrisFlyer or KrisPay miles from the conversion of bank points or via spend on KrisFlyer co-branded cards." The transfer is one-way, minor to parent, and final once complete. A maximum of 50,000 miles can leave a minor's account in a calendar year. The expiry date of the moved miles does not change, with two exceptions tied to PPS Club membership: if the minor is a PPS Club member and the parent is not, the transferred miles expire three years from the transfer date, and if the parent is a PPS Club member and the minor is not, the transferred miles carry no expiry date.

Those conditions sit beside the pooling clause. Singapore states that pooling of miles and status credits "is not permitted," that each membership "can only be utilised by one person," and that "the conversion and/or accrual of KrisFlyer miles into a KrisFlyer account from credit/charge points not belonging to that KrisFlyer member is strictly prohibited," with the right to cancel the account and its miles for any breach of the clause. The clause does not mention parents. On its face, bank points that belong to a parent and are converted into a child's KrisFlyer account are points "not belonging to that KrisFlyer member," and any bank-point conversion into the child's account also starts a 36-month clock on the child's ability to send miles back. Whether Singapore would apply the clause to a parent funding a minor's account is Singapore's call. The wording is broad enough that the question belongs with Singapore before any conversion, not after.

The 16th birthday is a hard stop on the arithmetic. Five linked minors can each send 50,000 miles a year, so one parent can receive up to 250,000 miles in a calendar year from a full set of linked children. A single child holding 130,000 miles needs three calendar years of cap, and every transfer has to be requested before the link ends. The worked example below uses two children with different birthdays to show how that plays out.

Aeroplan: the parent's email, the parent's file and a closed pool

Aeroplan's terms begin by saying the program "allows individuals, or their parent or legal guardian in the case of a minor, to enroll as members." Minors "can only be enrolled in the Aeroplan Program by their parent or legal guardian." By enrolling a minor, the adult confirms two things: being the minor's parent or legal guardian, and that "you, and not the minor, are providing the minor's information to Aeroplan." Then the sentence that sets Aeroplan apart: "You must enroll a minor by using a unique valid email address that is owned and maintained by you, and not associated with another Account." The child's login lives in the parent's inbox by rule.

The parent stays in the file. For security and privacy, Aeroplan communicates membership and account information only to the Member, "a parent or guardian of record in the case of a minor," or a person the Member has authorized. Accounts are administered online only. The terms also contain a warning for any family that has ever considered a second account for the same person: an attempt to register more than one Account "by using the same or multiple different email addresses, identities, registrations, logins, or any other method(s), may void all Aeroplan Points" awarded or scheduled for that Member, and the Member may be disqualified from participating in the program or any aspect of it.

Family Sharing is the program's pooling feature, and the child-specific facts are short. The Family Lead must be 18 or older and can invite up to seven other members. The Family Sharing page names children among the people a lead can invite and says the lead sets roles when inviting: a member can earn and redeem from the shared balance, or "Earn points for the shared balance, but can't redeem." The Aeroplan section of the pooling and sharing points guide covers the mechanics, including the whole-balance rule and the three-month and six-month waits.

The current-status line matters more for a family that has not built a pool. On November 3, 2026, the US and Canadian versions of the Family Sharing page both say "The ability to create a new Family Sharing account is currently unavailable." The US page adds "including by telephone with an Aeroplan representative," and both call the limit temporary and say it does not affect existing pools, including the ability to add and remove members. A pool that exists can take a child as a contributor; a pool that does not exist cannot be started. A family planning to use Family Sharing for a child's balance has to confirm that creation is available again before building anything around it.

Aeroplan's inactivity and death rules are set out in the clocks section below. One protection belongs to pools: a redemption by any Family Member counts as activity in the account of every member who has at least one point, which keeps a child's small account from lapsing while the pool is in use. The Aeroplan partner awards guide explains what a balance can buy.

Atmos Rewards: separate accounts, with a narrow list of exceptions

Atmos Rewards puts its family rule in the first lines of the membership clause: "There are no group or family memberships; each individual must enroll separately." The enrollment sentence follows. Each individual provides a name, address, email, phone number and birth date, and the prospective member completes the process personally "unless the prospective member is a minor, in which case the parent or legal guardian may complete the enrollment process." The same paragraph says travel agents, travel arrangers and unauthorized brokers may not create or manage accounts for others. Parents are not on that list, and the minor exception sits directly beside it. The terms do not define "minor" or give an age. A second account for one individual is barred: Alaska may merge or close duplicates and decide what happens to their points.

Points stay with the traveler. They "will accrue only in the Atmos Rewards account of the member who actually travels or purchases goods or services," with one stated exception for eligible credit card spend, which accrues to the primary cardholder even when a different member travels. A child's flights build the child's balance, and the earning clause names no route for crediting a child's flight to a parent.

Combining is restricted in language that names families: "Atmos Rewards points cannot be combined, accrued or transferred from multiple accounts (including those of family members) or other sources into a single Atmos Rewards account." Three exceptions follow: the Atmos Rewards transfer-points program run by Points.com, the points-sharing benefit on select Atmos credit or debit cards, and "another program feature expressly permitted by Alaska Airlines." The earning clause also lists "our programs to buy, share, or gift points" among accrual methods. So Atmos is not closed to sharing, but each way is a separate program with its own terms. The card-based feature is a credit-card decision, not a booking rule.

Redemption terms say little that is specific to families. Points are deducted when an award reservation is made; if a change needs more points, "those points must be taken from the same account from which the original award was redeemed"; and "Once issued, all Atmos Rewards awards and award tickets are the responsibility of the member." For infants, the terms add that international tariff laws require all infants to be individually ticketed and that infants on certain partner carriers with award-ticketed passengers to international destinations pay an additional fee at the point of departure; lap infants and kids on award tickets has the numbers.

Who can spend a child's points

Four things recur in the booking rules: who may initiate a booking from the child's account, whether the points can book someone else, who can change a ticket afterward, and whether a child's award is priced like an adult's. Only KrisFlyer sets an age rule on a member's own redemption. Virgin Atlantic's age rule concerns the adult delegate, who must be 18. Delta, Southwest, Aeroplan and Atmos print no age rule for redemption at all.

That makes the practical gatekeeper the one the terms do not describe: the payment card on the booking, the identity checks at ticketing and the login. Virgin Atlantic gives an adult a defined role through the Authorised Account User; KrisFlyer gives one through nominees and the parent-credentials sentence; Aeroplan gives one through the parent-of-record rule and, where a pool exists, the Family Lead's permission settings. Delta, Southwest and Atmos give a parent the enrollment step and then nothing in writing.

Change authority differs too. Southwest puts changes on the Member alone, and says a passenger on another Member's points cannot change the itinerary. Virgin Atlantic lets the Member or an Authorised Account User amend a booking, with the Member's wishes prevailing. For reward seats on Virgin Atlantic flights, the amendment fee is US$100 on international flights that originate in the US and £70 on those that originate in the UK. Atmos requires that extra points for a change come from the same account that paid for the original award. Delta lets a Member change or cancel most award tickets that originate in the US or Canada without a redeposit or change fee, subject to the mileage difference and taxes and with Delta Basic experience fares excepted, but does not allow name changes once an award is issued.

What changes at 16, at 18, or at no printed age

Parents tend to assume that an account passes to the child at 18 and that the switch of control is written down somewhere. Among the six sets of terms, only KrisFlyer prints something that happens automatically on a birthday: at 16 a minor's account is de-linked from the parent's and the transfer route closes. The other five describe how a minor joins and say nothing about the end of minority. That silence is the practical finding. A family should expect the account to stay as it is and the adult to keep acting for the child by default, and should expect to prove identity and relationship if the program ever asks.

Virgin Atlantic ties several things to 18 without writing any transition. Consent applies under 18; an Authorised Account User and a Household Leader must be at least 18; and the Virgin Red account is created for applicants who are over 18 or 18 years old or over, depending on the clause. Aeroplan's 18 belongs to the Family Lead, and its minor threshold is the local age of majority, which the account's recorded residence sets. Delta's 13 governs enrollment only. Southwest and Atmos print no threshold at all, so there is no number to hit.

What each program leaves unsaid is often the more useful fact. Delta says nothing about how a 13-year-old is treated, or whether the parent's guardian attestation has a shelf life. Southwest does not say when a minor stops being a minor. Virgin Atlantic does not say what happens to a parent's consent, or to a missing Virgin Red account, when the member turns 18. Aeroplan does not say what a parent must do when the child reaches majority; it says only that a parent enrolls a minor and that account information goes to the parent of record. Atmos says only that a parent may complete enrollment. Where a parent's role matters after the child grows up, the move is to ask the program in writing and keep the answer.

Moving a child's balance: caps, blocks and proration

Three rule sets put numbers on moving points, and each one bites a different balance. Every figure in the table comes from the rules quoted above and from stated inputs, not from any live account.

KrisFlyer's 50,000-mile annual cap is per minor's account, not per parent. A child with 84,000 miles needs two calendar years of cap (50,000, then 34,000), and the two requests can sit in December and January. A child with 130,000 miles needs three. If that child's 16th birthday falls on March 2, 2027, only 2026 and the first two months of 2027 are available, so the most that can move is 100,000 miles and 30,000 are stranded in an account the parent can no longer link to. If the birthday were June 1, 2028, three calendar years fit and the 150,000-mile ceiling covers the 130,000. All of this assumes the other conditions hold: a flown accrual in the past 36 months, no bank-point or co-brand miles in that period, and the service fee paid.

Southwest's blocks are a small-balance trap. Off promotion, transfers move in blocks of 500 with a 2,000-point minimum. A child holding 3,700 points can send 3,500 and leaves 200 behind; during a promotion, in blocks of 1,000, only 3,000 move and 700 stay. A child holding 1,800 points cannot send anything, because the balance is under the minimum. Moving 130,000 points takes three days at the 60,000 daily maximum (60,000, 60,000 and 10,000). Southwest quotes the price in US dollars when the transfer is made, so the fee is not tabulated here.

Aeroplan's pool takes from everyone in proportion. In an illustration with three members holding 60,000, 20,000 and 20,000 points, a 40,000-point redemption comes out as 24,000, 8,000 and 8,000, leaving 36,000, 12,000 and 12,000. The pool's own rule is that points are deducted "prorated to their Aeroplan Points' balance at the time of redemption," so a child with a small balance contributes a small share. If a child joins with 3,000 points beside a lead holding 60,000 and the pool pays for a 21,000-point award, the child's share is 1,000 points and the lead's is 20,000. The arithmetic is proportional, and it is also why the Family Lead's role settings carry the real decision about who can spend the whole balance.

Virgin Atlantic's household link has no cap but has a calendar: points that the child earns tip into the leader's account after each transaction, and the link must last at least 12 months. Delta and Atmos each point to a separate program for moving points between members. Delta's rules refer to the SkyMiles Transfer Miles Program, with fees; Atmos names a Points.com program and a card-based sharing benefit. Those terms are outside the documents compared here.

Clocks that keep running on an account nobody uses

A child's account is the likeliest to sit untouched, so expiry and closure rules matter more here than in an adult's. The six sort into programs that say points do not expire, one with no stated redemption deadline, one that forfeits points after inactivity, and one with both an expiry date and a closure right.

Delta, Southwest and Atmos say points do not expire. Delta: "miles do not expire." Southwest: "Points do not expire." Atmos: points "do not have an expiration date," and may stay in an account indefinitely while the program has not been terminated. Each program still reserves ways to end an account. Delta and Southwest say outright that closing an account forfeits the points; Atmos reserves the right to terminate the program on 180 days' notice and to close an account when a member does not respond to verification, security or compliance requests. Virgin Atlantic prescribes no time frame for redeeming, provided the member stays in the program and complies, and cross-refers to its suspension and termination clauses for forfeiture.

Aeroplan and KrisFlyer run inactivity clocks. Aeroplan's is 18 consecutive months with no points accumulated or redeemed. Unless Aeroplan permits otherwise in its sole discretion, the account then becomes inactive, and "All Aeroplan Points in an inactive Account are forfeited." A child's account untouched since March 15, 2027 reaches the 18-month mark on September 15, 2028. If an account stays inactive for 3 consecutive years, Aeroplan reserves the right to terminate the membership, close the account and reassign the number. KrisFlyer has two clocks. Miles of Basic, Elite Silver and Elite Gold members expire after three years, on the last day of the month in which they were earned: miles credited on July 18, 2026 expire on July 31, 2029. And separately, an account with no recorded earning activity for 24 months from the start of membership, or 45 months from the last recorded activity, "may also be closed." For an account opened on March 10, 2026 and never credited, the 24-month mark is March 10, 2028. For one last credited on July 18, 2026, the 45-month mark is April 18, 2030. "Recorded activity" means a transaction in which the member earns miles, so a redemption does not count.

Death ends the account in most of the documents, with different consequences. Southwest forfeits points when an account is closed on death and bars transfer to an estate. Aeroplan terminates membership on death. KrisFlyer terminates membership immediately and forfeits unredeemed miles. Virgin Atlantic may move points to a named beneficiary's Flying Club account, at its discretion and on documents. Atmos may close the account and decide what happens to the points. Delta lists a deceased Member among the reasons it may close an account. For the household version of this question, see points after death or divorce, and for what each program does with idle points, when airline and hotel points expire.

Babies and toddlers before the second birthday

Age 2 is the first number in the child rules, and it comes from two places. KrisFlyer's membership floor is 2, and its nominee rule separately requires a nominee to be at least 2 at the date of travel. Delta's rule is about earning: infants under two traveling without paying an applicable fare earn nothing, while infants on a ticket bought at the applicable fare are credited. None of the other four documents sets a membership floor.

For a lap infant that has two practical effects. A baby cannot hold a KrisFlyer account, so a KrisFlyer award for a family with a lap infant is built around the parents' accounts. And Southwest's Getaways rule excludes lap children from the equal split of vacation points. How each program prices the infant itself belongs to lap infants and kids on award tickets. The family-level planning, including whose name holds which record, is in family of four on points. The rest of the booking guides cluster covers fees and changes that apply once the ticket exists.

A worksheet for accounts that already exist

• Find the edition date or the "last updated" line on each program's terms; Southwest, KrisFlyer and Atmos print none, so record the day you looked.
• Write down the name and date of birth on every child's account; Delta credits a flight only if both match the reservation, and the name must match the ID used to fly.
• For KrisFlyer, note each child's 16th birthday, the 36-month look-back for bank-point or co-brand miles, and the 50,000-mile calendar-year cap before planning any transfer to a parent.
• For Aeroplan, confirm which email address sits on each minor's account, and whether the Family Sharing page still says new pools cannot be created.
• For Virgin Atlantic, confirm that consent has been processed for a member under 18, and ask how an adult is attached to a child's account as an Authorised Account User.
• Calendar the clocks: Aeroplan's 18-month inactivity mark, and KrisFlyer's three-year expiry and its 24-month and 45-month closure marks, each counted from a specific event.
• Before booking an award for a child on someone else's points, decide which Member will make changes; at Southwest, only the Member can.